Suddenly your life is turned upside down. “You always think: that won’t happen to me, that will happen to others,” says Marwies Bos about the moment she heard that she had ovarian cancer. “I felt like a protagonist in a very wrong movie.”
Tired and wrecked after six rounds of chemotherapy
Because Marwies’ cancer was discovered at a fairly early stage, it could be treated well, with the prospect of recovery. She received six rounds of chemotherapy, each with several weeks of recovery time in between. All in all, the chemotherapy lasted six months. It was a tough time, she says. “The first days of a course were not too bad, and you get stimulants to dampen the side effects. After each course I felt sick for a week and over time it gets heavier, your body has more and more difficulty to to process it. I really saw the last cure as a dot on the horizon; then I’m done and I’m jumping for joy. But that wasn’t the case, I was tired and wrecked.”
Move more through the doctor
After a period of recovering and recuperating, she followed a rehabilitation program at the UMCG Center for Rehabilitation in Haren. “That helped me a lot. Not only the sports and exercise, but also the conversations you have there with fellow sufferers were very nice.”
Then the question was: how do you keep going if you have to do it yourself? “I was very disappointed,” says Marwies. Through her GP, she heard about a UMCG research program aimed at getting people who have been treated for cancer to exercise more. “Maybe it will help to get more out of it and recover faster,” she thought, and went to talk.
Build up to 10,000 steps
A Fitbit – a watch that measures your activity – quickly showed that Marwies was moving less than she wanted. “Because I was extremely motivated to go outside and exercise, I made an exercise plan with the practice nurse. My goal was to build up from 6,000 to 10,000 steps a day. I regularly visited the practice nurse to discuss progress What works, what doesn’t work? Do we have to adjust the plan? That was very pleasant and accessible.”
And such a Fitbit is a good stick behind the door, says Marwies. “If I was tired or didn’t feel like it, and you see that you still have some steps to take, then you are more inclined to take the stairs or go for a walk or bike ride. The plan and the Fitbit encouraged me to to keep it up.”
Reminds me of somber
She did an exercise test halfway through and at the end of the program. And guess what: her condition had improved considerably. “Not only did I feel fitter, it also helped me mentally,” she says. “I was less gloomy because I went out a lot.”
Healthier and more conscious living
Marwies also started living healthier and more consciously. “I read in an article that more exercise reduces the risk of cancer coming back. That really stimulated me. You do everything you can to prevent yourself from getting sick again. Enough exercise, eating enough fruit and vegetables, less sugar: I am more make healthy choices.”
Don’t postpone life
And she continues that line now, although she is a bit less strict with herself than in the beginning. “Cancer changes your view of life, everything comes into a different perspective. You start thinking about the meaning of life. What do I want and what don’t I give my family and family even more priority. I have my job picked up again, but I have come to realize that other things are more important. I no longer postpone life. We used to think about a trip and then my husband and I said to each other: we will do that again. Now we think: that’s what we’re going to do now.”
By: National Care Guide